Let me tell you a story...: August 2017

Lately I have been doing some thinking... yes that time of the year.

I belong to a generation that saw fewer inventions and more innovations. What has changed in the last 20 years? A lot? Yes. Enough? May be. Are we in the world that Jetson’s showed us we would be in? Hell No. That by the way is a big bummer. Nevertheless, we still have Facebook, and Uber, smartphones, and Sarahaha.

In this ever changing world there is a constant need to reinvent and yet there is a special value to things that stayed the same. Things for which the time is frozen. It’s like Maggi. I know how it used to taste like, smell like and last time I had it, which was about 25 mins ago, it tasted the same and had the same aroma. May be we like it because it gives us “That ghar wali feeling”. Maggie could very well be a horcrux we never realized we had, it has stayed with us, made us feel safe and for those 10 mins, we would probably go into our happy place. (suck it wai-wai and patanjali noodles)

This paradox is not just limited to things, it’s equally or in fact even more prevalent in humans. With this cut throat competition and ever increasing market potential, you are required to better yourself quickly while you are still at work. Not just learning but unlearning and relearning is equally important. And yet you are expected to stay the same. Be the same person you used to be.

My parents, friends I have known for life, girlfriend, and an auto rickshaw guy, all have said this to me at least once. “You have changed”.

But then is it all that bad?

Whats app has been one hell of an innovation. It’s like that one lucky bastard who gets the highest marks in viva only because his exam is at the exact right time when the professor is in hurry to wind it up. There have been better messaging apps before and after and yet here we are, not paying $ 1/year because Mark is bae!

So anyway, one great thing about WhatsApp and such other messaging apps is the way it has kept us all together, there is literally a group for every god damn gathering that ever took place. In fact there are more groups than individual chats. I was also added into a group chat by this group of Aussies I met somewhere in Germany while we shared the bathroom for roughly 30 seconds. I just received a picture on a group of a girl that looked just like one of our friends who is also on the group. A doppelganger. In fact I am sure I have one of the most common faces in the universe by sheer number of people who have told me they knew someone who looked justttt like me, I am sure my creator endorsed Ctrl C + Ctrl V and idolized Pritam. The conversation right now in the group is about the similarities about that person and my friend and the differences. All fun and games of course.

I recently “backpacked” across Europe with two of my closest friends. Friends, I have now known for almost a decade. Friends that moved places to find their own destiny and figure out their own mantra to happiness. There was a time we would spend days and nights together talking about things that seemed important but clearly weren’t. And then came times when we would meet once a year or may be not even then. Very Dil Chahta Hai..

While there were so many things to see, explore, and absorb from the beautiful towns and lovely people I was also exploring my same old but new friends. Yes, they have changed.

And here is the grand entrance of the title of the blog, Ship of Theseus: Imagine a ship made of wood. It is so old that each part has undergone some change. All the planks have been replaced; in fact, every single aspect has been replaced. Is it still the same ship?

I am no philosopher but I have this paradox quite sorted in my head. It’s not the same ship. But it is a better one. In all aspects. The new ship will remind you of the old one and that’s great. My friends aren’t the same anymore. They are so much better versions of themselves its remarkable, all are living lives on their own. Surviving completely out of their comfort zones. One speaks a new language; the other has started playing an instrument. Both have enough and more experiences of their journey’s triumphs and failures to completely bug a saint. also all have better hairstyles and are yet positively going bald.

Sitting on College terrace and talking about dreams, to living one across 7000 Kms away it was only possible because they changed.

I guess the goofs that I met a decade ago were just doppelgangers of my friends I got to meet this year.

I think I should share their pictures on that WhatsApp group.